Transcends Time
by snowangel786
Summary: "Love, forgiveness and hope transcend time. That's why you should love all those dear to you, forgive those that have hurt you and hope that all is well in the world. This will let you live a much happier life." My take on the Southern Raiders ep.


**HER REVENGE**

"_Pathetic and sad and empty...as much as I hate you...I just can't do it."_

"_It's not just hard...it's impossible..."_

His brown, unglorified eyes were just that. Eyes that did not understand the capacity a single emotion can hold. For those very emotions is what led her here. Hate was the oil that was added to the fire burning slowly. Anger was what gave her the strength she thought she needed. Revenge gave her focus. And Zuko gave her a path to follow. He was perhaps the only one who understood what she needed to do, and he was perhaps the only one who was as unstable as she was.

But he wasn't.

He knew what was in his destiny. Become Fire Lord, marry the noblewoman and lead a nation to peace and tranquilly, ignoring the deaths that his beloved nation had caused. Maybe that was why she had hated him so much. He was going to ignore the soldiers that had killed so many innocents, cast aside the deaths with a flick of his graceful hand and a memorial in their honour.

That was not enough.

At least not in Katara's eyes. She wanted revenge; she wanted them to go through what she had gone through for the past years. She wanted them to feel just as helpless, cold and sad as she had. She wanted them to feel remorse.

But she didn't see that in his eyes. His brown eyes that haunted her.

When she asked him "Do you know who I am?" She did not expect him to remember. And she was not surprised when he didn't.

Her bending had never before felt so effortless, not even when she was with Hanna in the full moon light.

This was her anger.

By suspending every single water droplet in a five metre radius and creating a water barrier, she showed her true potential to the fire nation citizens. Turning the water in icicles, the point sharpened so much that it looked like someone had sat for days getting it perfect, she threw it at him. She was an inch off from killing the man when she saw him out of the corner of her eye.

Zuko. He looked upset, stepping forward ever so slightly. But it was _his_ eyes that stopped her. His eyes weren't brown, merciless and remorseless. No. He was a different person who had the misfortune of being brought to see his friend commit an act in which he was going to stop.

He was a different person. His eyes were golden, almost like honey held up in the sun, the rays making the honey sparkle brightly but there was something grounding in his eyes as they held hers. Why was he staring at her like that? He was the one who brought her here to kill the man! Damn it!

And just because of him, she let go. The ice melted away, leaving the man staring at her in awe and...gratefulness. He didn't deserve to live, not after killing without a thought. This man was a machine, following orders to kill.

"I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing," she had said, her voice low, "and now that I see you, I think I can understand." She looked at the man in the eye, behind her Zuko was watching them both. "There's just nothing inside you..." walking towards the man she spoke again, her words slightly harsher than before. "Nothing at all, you're pathetic, sad and empty." She didn't hear what he said, what right he had to talk to her. So she ignored his voice. "As much as I hate you...I just can't do it."

Her eyes narrowed for a second as she contemplated whether or not she was doing the right thing. And then she closed them, softly holding back her tears that were threatening to mix with the rain. Zuko walked up next to her understanding her reasons.

Katara turned away before either man could see, walking back towards Appa. They had hidden him behind tree and bushes, commanding him to lie low. When she reached him, he gave out a low groan, pleased to see her. Without a second thought she climbed into the saddle and curled up in a ball, and cried. Ironically, the rain had lessened, a rainbow appearing in the grey skies. Was this a sign, that she did the right thing morally?

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._.._...

Zuko stood there for another moment, gazing at the man who was so strong in his times of power but so weak and cowardly when he was overpowered. This was the man who carried out countless murders for the sake of...his nation?

"I know you..." the man had started saying. "You're Prince Zuko!" He exclaimed all traces of fear gone. "I heard about your scar and traitorous acts. What do you think you are doing, following a _waterbender_ around?" he said 'waterbender' as though it was an insult or a dirty word. Such was his prejudices.

"_Do_ you know me?" Zuko asked quietly. His gold eyes boring into the man's eyes. "Do you know that this _waterbender_ could have killed you? She had you on your knees and she walked away. She let you have your life. Can you say that? Can _you _say that you let someone keep their life?"

"She was weak! She-" before he could say another word, a burst of fire surrounded him.

"Weak! She listened to her heart. You...You listened to the fire Lord...to my _father...you are the one who is weak."_ Zuko finished, punching fire out at every third or fourth word. "Remember this mercy shown to you when you sleep at nights. Remember the screams of those you killed and then remember this mercy."

Zuko turned his back on the man and walked away.

..._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._...

Yan Rah didn't take long to gather his bearings. He slowly got to his feet, gathered the fruits on the ground, placing them gently back into the basket bag. His life had slowly deteriorated throughout the years. It seemed no one wanted an ex-captain around. The Nation he had supposedly fought for wanted none of the fight. The village shunned him when the news was brought around and his mother was disgusted by him.

What did he do that was disgusting? He only followed his orders. He was just puppet who strings travelled all the way back to Fire Lord Ozai. He was just a puppet whose strings were nothing...

And Katara did not do an act of mercy. She just made his life that much more unbearable. Much worse than being the puppet of insanity.

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._...

Zuko approached the flying bison apprehensively, carefully climbing up. He saw Katara in the corner of the saddle, curled up with a blanket wrapped around her tightly. She had fallen asleep, her eyes fluttering with each breath she took. Her hair was tied neatly into its braid, coiled like a snake around her shoulder. Zuko slowly walked towards her, reaching for his blanket and gently placing it over her. Before he moved away, she reached for his pale wrist.

"Katara," Zuko whispered, waiting for her eyes to open, the dark circles were a prominent feature.

Her eye remained closed as she mumbled inaudible words. Zuko bent closer so that he could hear. "Thank you...you stopped me from that..." her mumble receded into nothingness, as Zuko un-wrapped her fingers from his wrist and let her hand drop to her side.

"It's ok," he said before walking away to the bison's head getting ready to fly to a motel.

It wasn't long until Appa circled a beach before landing on the sand. Jumping off, Zuko led Appa to a corner, quickly noticing the Fire Nation house on top of the tiny hill, a trail zigzagging up to it. He jumped back up, looking at Katara, noticing how she was in a deeper sleep.

"I should get some food." Zuko whispered, jumping off Appa elegantly before running up to the house. He had no choice but to steal now.

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._...

Arriving twenty minutes later, slipping the black cloth off his face, he watched her from the cliffs shadows. Katara was sitting on the edge of the old pier, her legs dangling off it, her toes barely touching the surface. The sun was another couple of hours away from setting.

Her eyes were red rimmed but open wide and glistening as she stared at the ocean reflecting the suns softening orange tones. She had woken up to find herself in this unknown place with Zuko gone, although his pack and sleeping bag was there so she knew he would be coming back. What she didn't expect from him through this whole trip was his non judgemental expressions but also his understanding and allowing her to do this.

Not judging her. Not stopping her. Not even telling her the wide and beautiful philosophies of revenge. No. He was there, letting her control her own emotions, letting her handle her own thoughts. He was there supporting her.

He probably knew before she knew that she wouldn't do it. And that was what scared her the most.

Ever since he had first come pleading on his knees, she noticed the way his fiery red presence would seep through the carefully built walls in the group. Tangling around Aang good-natured grey as the 'Sifu Hotman', stumbling with Sokka's light topaz as 'jerkbender', starting anew with Sukki's dark orange and twining with Tophs dark green this was his way of entering a tight knit group. Everything was stable except for her own blue.

Why was it that she trusted him first, was the first to know him and yet they are better friends to him then she is? Must she forgive everything that he's done?

"_Love, forgiveness and hope transcend time. That's why you should love all those dear to you, forgive those that have hurt you and hope that one day peace will be returned. This will let you live a much happier life." _

Kya had said those words a couple of days before she died. And it stayed with Katara her whole life. Love, forgiveness and hope.

Love. She loved Aang like she would Sokka, she loved Toph as she would a sister and she loved Sukki as her best friend. She loved her father, loved her tribe, her Gran-Gran. She knew that Love can fight through anything. That was what Love was to her.

Hope. She had hope that her father will be alive. That the Avatar was coming to save them. That there would be peace in the world. She hoped that she would be alive at the end of this. Hope was what got her through the day.

Forgiveness. She just forgave her mother's killer, the one person who she hated more than Azula or Ozai. So if she could forgive him and walk away, not acting upon the actions he had made seven years ago then what right did she have to hold Zuko to his actions?

Katara turned to her right, blinking up at Zuko who was holding a bag, most probably filled with food. She watched as he gently sat down next to her, placing the bag between them. He stayed silent watching the sun set with her.

"Are you alright?" He finally asked his voice low and warm.

She looked at him, watched as his bad eye blink slowly.

"How did it happen? Your eye? Was it on purpose?" Katara asked gently.

"My father. And yes, it was."

Katara just watched him, imagining the pain Zuko had gone through. Losing his mother, fighting against Azula and to have a father like Ozai...

"Were you ever alright with it?"

Zuko smirked slightly at that. A horrible sad smirk that made Katara shuffle a little closer. "Never. Never have been alright with it. When I first woke up I screamed and yelled, broke and burned things. Never before had I felt so bitter, so angry and so hateful. And funnily, all of that was aimed at myself. I hated myself." He looked away, back towards the setting sun.

"So would you forgive your father?"

It was silent. He did not respond nor did she prompt him to. They were just silent.

"Hope, love and forgiveness transcend time." The words never stopped echoing in her head. "I forgave the man who murdered my mother just because he was told to. Forgave is the wrong word." She stopped for a second, her head down, eyes on her hands twisting around each other on her lap. "I didn't forgive him. I just...let him go...maybe that was my forgiveness. I just let it all go...everything."

Zuko still said nothing nor did he look at her.

"So if I could forgive him for that then maybe you should let it go as well."

At this Zuko looked at Katara. Her head was bowed, her hair coming around like a curtain.

"He is still your father Zuko. A father who thought he was doing the right thing no matter how wrong."

"So I just forgive him?"

"I didn't say that...I'm just saying that you should unblock the hatred in your heart...unblock the shame you feel on your family's behalf. Because only when you do that will you be able to rule your nation peacefully."

"What?"

"Oh, don't lie. You know you will be crowned Fire Lord Zuko when we take over." There was no doubt in her much more confident voice. She had lifted her head to look at Zuko in the eye.

"When we take over...?"

"Of course we will win."

"Ok..."

They both looked out at the ocean, the bag of food lying forgotten.

"Maybe I will forgive him for the scar. I will forgive him for my mother." Zuko said, his voice quiet, determined laced with anger. "But I will not forgive him for what he has done to Azula. Or the things he has done to this world. For that he will have to ask for forgiveness from every single citizen and only then will I forgive him."

Katara reached her hand over to his which was clenched on his thigh. She placed her hand on his, stretching out his fingers, calming him down before twining her fingers with his. "That sounds fair."

She was close enough to lay her head on his shoulder and she did. Her eye's closing slightly.

"Katara?" Zuko whispered.

"Hmm."

"Would you have killed him?"

"If you hadn't been there then yes. I would have."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I saw you. I saw your eyes, your mistakes and your future." She mumbled incoherently.

"Ok." he whispered, thinking to ask her later on about her bending and her thoughts. He leaned into her hair for a brief moment before moving away, untangling his arms from around her.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to get Aang, he must be worried."

"Oh...Ok."

Zuko started walking away, down the pier but she called out to him. He turned around only to have a split second glimpse of her face before her arms were around his neck.

"Thank you and I forgive you." She just whispered into his good ear before starting to pull away. He didn't want to let her go, so he tightened his hold around her waist.

"Thank you." He said, tilting his head further into the crook of her neck, breathing in the smell of rain, sea water and fresh air.

They stood like that for a few more seconds; Katara was becoming accustomed to the warmth when he started to pull away.

They both shuffled away an inch then looked at each other.

"Nothing will be the same, will it?" Katara asked him.

"No." He replied knowing just what she was asking. "I'll be back. You should eat." He said tenderly, stepping forward, holding on to her hand tighter before letting it go.

Katara returned to the edge of the pier, her thoughts on Zuko alone.

_Forgiveness, hope and love transcend time. Forgiveness, hope and...love..._

**A couple of hours later, late in the night**

Zuko was half asleep when the shadow of woman fell upon his tent. Slowly easing out of his sleeping bag, grabbing his boots and the swords that lay hidden underneath, Zuko followed. It was Katara. That much he was certain of.

No one walked like that. Toph had a certain strut to her walk and Suki was too graceful and elegant. Katara was neither. She was more casual but elegance. Humble but confident. And that was what he liked about her. She was her own person.

When everyone started to accept him she stayed true to her opinion and thoughts of him and that was why he liked her, although he will never admit to her face.

So when he followed her he saw the other side of her.

He had witnessed the forgiving side in the cave, where he spat right back at her.

He had witnessed the caring side that she had with her brother, and the others.

He had witnessed the violent side when she had fought him numerous times.

The vicious side.

But this was something he had never seen before.

She was sitting at the edge of the cliff, her feet repeating the action that was done in the pier except this time she was touching the air. Her eyes were open but swollen from sleep deprivation but it had not hid away her soul-seeking blue eyes. Her long dark hair was open for the wind to sweep it away, the strands dancing in the air, dancing around her. The moonlight illuminating the sky from a mere crescent seemed to make her glow, as though it knew that this water-bender was its kin.

It was not her appearance, however, that had Zuko bewitched. It was her expression.

She had the most serene expression. There was not a single wrinkle on her face, not a single twitch of the muscle. Nothing, it was almost like bliss for her. This was the side he had yet to witness. A side which he thought she may not have even done before tonight. All because of a war that killed her nearest and dearest.

"I know you are there." Katara said gently, her expression not changing. Zuko stop up from the behind the rock. He thought he was quiet.

"How'd you know?" he asked walking closer to the cliffs edge.

There was silence before she answered, "I could feel you."

Zuko didn't reply but instead chose to sit down next to her, letting his own legs drop in the air.

"How?" He was sure that she couldn't feel the vibrations as Toph had explained to him when he asked her how she could tell if someone was lying.

She turned to face him. "Blood beating through your veins." Not a single expression.

"So you could feel my blood?" Zuko asked apprehensively.

"Feel it, hear it, and control it, yes. Your blood has become a part of water benders ability." Katara smirked now, a sick, saddened smirk that had Zuko wanting to put an arm around her.

"Isn't that good? We can defeat the fire lord." He replied.

She was silent before replying gently. "Today I saw man who was a puppet to Fire Lord Ozai. A man whose thoughts and opinions meant nothing but his actions meant everything. He was a puppet. And that is what I make you. I am your puppet master while you are my puppet. I can make you kill me, hurt your loved one, betray or make you kill yourself. I will control your life." She looked at him. "Would you want to carry that burden?"

Zuko stared into her eyes, refusing to look away. "By being the puppet master you can freeze a suicide from happening, save the child who was almost killed, heal the wounded. Why must you look at the wrong side of things? Look at it as my uncle would, look at it as a cup half filled with tea not half empty. And you have to learn to look at it that way. So by you controlling Ozai you will be saving lives."

"True. So is your cup half filled?"

"Completely full. I have redeemed myself and I _feel_ better. So my cup is full of tea." Zuko smiled at that. Katara laughed at his phrasing.

"Well then think, we'll not be sleeping in tents for the rest of the month. Where do we go in the fire nation?" She asked, tapping a finger on the side of his head.

He was silent, a thoughtful frown on his face after a couple though his face lit up enthusiastically.

"Ember Island! We have a house their and no one is allowed there anyway. We'll go there." In his enthusiasm Zuko stood up as though to wake everyone up and get them to go there.

"Hold on, let them sleep otherwise they would kill you. Especially Toph." Katara said, also standing up with a smile. Zuko turned around a sheepish smile on his face.

There was an awkward silence in which the two of them looked away from each other.

"Well I'm going to bed, g'night Zuko.'

"Good night Katara."

Zuko stood there a while longer watching her make her way to her tent. Why is it that out of everyone she is the one he felt most comfortable talking to? Why is this young woman, from across the world, the one woman who made him smile from his heart?

"Go to sleep Sparky!" Toph shout came from her tent or rather dirt tent. As Zuko walked past her tent, he popped his head in.

"Did you hear everything?"

"Yup."

"Will you keep quiet?"

"Depends..."

A groan echoed in the quiet grounds.

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.._

_**Finished it. Hope you guys like it and if you do then please review. It makes me think that people are actually reading it till the end not just glancing at it. Please Review!**_

_**This is my take on that particular episode. It's been on my laptop for a while so I thought I might as well get opinions on it.**_

_**Is it confusing? Out of character? Too long? Unrealistic? I need opinions!**_

_**Tc snowangelxoxo**_


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